Hey Reader,

We’ve got a good one for you this week.

On YouTube, Nick’s taking on the “average net worth by age” comparison trap. 😳

And here in the newsletter, we’re sharing a simple 1% rule that can reshape your budget — without the dramatic overhaul.

Let’s get into it.

🎥 What's New

​Average Net Worth By Age (2026 Edition)​

​

💲 Money Minute - From Nick

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they decide to “get serious” about money is building a budget they can’t sustain.

I’m talking:

• 150+ spending categories
• 14 bank accounts for “every possible thing”
• Cutting eating out to 10% of normal
• Slashing groceries in half
• Paying off debt so aggressively they can’t handle
  next month’s expenses

It’s the financial equivalent of sprinting the first mile of a marathon.

You might feel impressive at the start.
But you’ll be throwing up on the sidelines long before the finish line.

I know because I’ve done it.
Hanna can confirm — both with budgeting and actual running. 😂

Save yourself the pain, and try this instead:

The 1% Rule.

I once heard YouTuber Thomas Frank say he tries to make each video just 1% better than the last.

One small improvement per week.

Apply that to your budget.

This week, ask:

• Can I move 1% toward something more aligned with my values?
• Can I pay 1% more toward debt?
• Invest 1% more?
• Give 1% more?
• Redirect 1% from impulse spending to intentional spending?

Just 1%.
One small adjustment.
And then do it again next week.

Stack that over weeks, months, and years — and you’ll be shocked at how far you’ve come.

Progress that lasts is built 1% at a time.

It's not intensity that changes your finances.
It’s consistency.
​
- Nick

⚓︎ Craft Your Money Story - From Hanna

Peggi Kroll Roberts is one of my favorite artists — partly because she refuses to follow other people’s rules.

She’s famous for her beach paintings.
​But she doesn't do them much anymore.

At 72, she’s still “playing” — painting ducks left-handed, experimenting with ceramics, and collaging.

When galleries only want her beach scenes, she doesn't argue.
She opens an Etsy shop and sells the experimental work herself.

And she takes the same fun, freeing approach to teaching.

Instead of defining “good” art and telling students to copy it,
she teaches fundamentals — light and shadow, color theory, composition — and invites you to play...
To apply those principles in a way that fits your own aesthetic.

And here's what I love most about Peggi:
Her approach to art mirrors Nick's approach to money.

Nick doesn't tell you what to do with your money.
He doesn’t hand out a template life.
​
He teaches principles — cash flow, tradeoffs, long-term vision — and then asks:

It doesn’t matter how much net worth other people your age have.
Or how much the family next door spends on groceries.
Or what age your second cousin plans to retire.

That's their money story.

Yours is yours.
What matters is that you craft it intentionally.
​
Not what’s typical.
Not what’s impressive.
Not what’s safe.

But what’s aligned with your family’s values.

Does your budget tell that story?

If not, maybe it’s not because you’re “bad with money.”
Maybe it’s because you’re trying to paint someone else’s aesthetic.
​
This week, pick one area of your family's spending and ask:
Is this aligned with the story we want to tell?
​
You don’t have to repaint the whole canvas.
Just adjust one brushstroke at a time.
And keep painting the story you actually want to live.
​
Until next week,
Nick + Hanna